If you were a sound, what sound would you be?

If you were a smell, what smell would you be?

If you were a kind of weather, what kind of weather would you be?

If you were a vegetable, what vegetable would you be?

10

Sight- easiest to describe.

Colours are useful.

Be precise:If it’s red- a pale/faded/deep red?What can we compare it to? Blood/ nail varnish/ velvet?

SkyBedsheets

Sound-do you prefer noise or silence?

Be precise:Don’t just say there was sound of traffic

Was there a boom?/ Was it shrill? Did something chime?

DogPhotocopier

Smell- most effective

Roasting coffee beans/ tang of sea air/ granny’s home baking.These smells can evoke strong and often fond memories of the past.

To this day, the delicious aroma of fresh ground coffee reminds me of those Sunday mornings long ago.

Touch & Taste- can provide something extra

Be precise:Sticky/ ooze/ sugary/ bitter- this can set the imagination off!

Eating chilliTouching velvet

Think of an object. Write a description of your object that appeals to all of the senses- but doesn’t give the game away!

The rest of the class will guess what your object is.

SimilesWhen one thing is like another thing:

As stubborn as a mule

As solid as a rock

MetaphorsWhen one thing IS another thing:

It’s raining cats and dogs

My legs were jelly

1. The baby was like an octopus, grabbing at all the cans on the grocery store shelves.

2. My love is like a red, red rose, that is newly sprung in June.

3. The giant’s steps were thunder as he ran towards Jack.

4. After my long day, the pillow was a cloud.

5. I feel like a limp dishrag.

6. Those girls are like two peas in a pod.

7. Taylor was a walking colour wheel, always wearing just about every shade possible, all at once.

8. No one invites Harold to parties because he’s a wet blanket.

9. Her elderly fingers were thin gnarled branches, twisting oddly from the stem of her palms.

10. Ted was as nervous as a cat with a long tail in a room full of rocking chairs.

Simile

Metaphor

Simile

Metaphor

Simile

Simile

Metaphor

Metaphor

Metaphor

Simile

Show Don’t Tell

TELL: The morning was beautiful.

SHOW: Behind the mountains, the sun peaked brightly, ready to start a new day. The blue sky remained silent yet showed signs of sadness. The wind whispered through the trees as the cheerful sun rose. The birds sang gently by my window as if they wanted to wake me up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UaKYOEc5h8

Telling: He sits on the couch holding his guitar.

Showing: His eyes are gently closed, and hecradles the guitar in his arms like he would a lover. It seems as though he’s desperately trying to cling on to something like a drowning man to a lonely fragment of driftwood.

1

Show Don’t Tell

TELL: The coffee was enjoyable.

TELL: He is angry.

TELL: I was nervous.

TELL: It was a day unlike any other day.

15 minutes

“Dark shapes glide through the night sky on silent wings, their sinister shadows outlined against the light of a full moon. Swooping down to the earth, they hover near houses and deserted buildings, breaking the peace of the night with their disturbing presence. Carriers of disease, drinkers of blood, companions of witches and demons, bats – the very word brings a shiver of fear to most people.”

~ Sylvia A. Johnson, Bats

Identify what makes this description effective.

“Anybody could see how cold it got. The wind already had glass edges to it, stiffening muscles and practically cutting through the stitches of our clothes. When it blew, the chill stabbed our teeth like icicles, and our voices jiggled every time we talked.”

From Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vidaby Victor Martinez

Identify what makes this description effective.

Sometimes it’s difficult to start writing a piece of description. This video will help. Then we’re going up to the art gallery.

Let’s see what we need to TRY and achieve in our piece of writing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/crafting-an-opening-paragraph/766.html

Jump Into a Painting – Descriptive Writing Rough Draft

1. Where is this place?2. What are you doing

there?3. Who are you with?4. What made you go there?5. Are you appropriately

dressed?6. What is the climate

(weather) like in this area?

7. What sounds do you hear?8. Did you stay awhile, or did

you go somewhere else?9. What problems did you

encounter?10. How were the problems

resolved?11. What kind of person are

you in this painting?12. What kind of people are

your friends?

Collate all of your descriptions together and write a creative piece that incorporates all of these elements

and creates a vivid setting.

Your title is

‘Welcome to my world’

Simile MetaphorDefinition:

Examples:

Definition:

Examples:

Simile MetaphorDefinition:

Example:

Definition:

Example:

Underline the word that gives an object/ animal a quality of a person.

The large rock refused to budge.

1. The sun stretches its warmth across the land.2. The chair danced as the baby bounced to and fro.3. The darkness wrapped its arms around me.

Look at the words below. Try to give each word a quality of a human and write a sentence.

Sun TreeBearComputer

Personification